Topsfield resident suits up for Zimbabwean club team in prestigious soccer tournament

Saturday

Apr 14, 2012 at 12:01 AMApr 14, 2012 at 2:11 PM

From the halls of Masconomet High School to a rostered member of a Zimbabwean club team. It has certainly been an interesting April for Masco junior John Black.

Joshua Boyd/Wicked Local Boxford

From the halls of Masconomet High School to a rostered member of a Zimbabwean club team. It has certainly been an interesting April for Masco junior John Black.

Black flew back on Sunday from Dallas, Texas, where he backstopped the Bantu Rovers Football Club (FC) as goalkeeper. He helped the Rovers reach the semifinals of the Dallas Cup U19 division, falling in the team’s fifth game against Arsenal Football Club (of California’s) U17/U18 Academy team.

So, how did a prospective Masco goalie come to wear the colors of a team based 7,624 miles from Topsfield, in the southern portion of Africa?

“Peter Grieve, who is from Topsfield, is on the board of directors for this team and they asked for a goalie. Mr. Grieve asked me to come down,” said Black. “I had to register as a guest player and sign a release form from my club. I play for North Shore United, and with the Massachusetts ODP [Olympic Development Program].”

“I am co-owner of the Bantu Rovers. I met their co-founder, Methembe Ndovlu, when he was looking to acquire a license. He runs the soccer operations and I run the business operations,” said Grieves. “He called me one day and said we only have one goalkeeper. When you look across the world, where the U.S. stands out in soccer is in producing great goalkeepers.”

Black was a goalkeeper on one of the last town teams that Grieve coached (he estimates that he coached 43 teams during his soccer coaching career), the Topsfield Hotspurs.

Black was set up so that he could travel expense-free (paid for by the team), so he headed down to meet his new teammates and help them in this international tournament. The Dallas Cup has been going on for more than 30 years and is well known for drawing club teams from across the world for the purpose of bringing different players from different backgrounds together from ages 12 through 19. It’s also a well-scouted tournament by U.S. college recruiters.

“Some of the kids from Zimbabwe were talked to by college coaches,” he added.

A team of helping hands

The Bantu Rovers are more than just a soccer team. The club team is run by the nonprofit organization Grassroot Soccer, which seeks to raise awareness and education to battle the spread of HIV and AIDS in African countries, where those diseases are of epidemic proportion.

“The idea is to teach kids about lifestyle choices and life skills to avoid HIV,” said Grieve, also a member of the Grassroot Soccer board of directors. “Grassroot Soccer does this through a soccer-based curriculum. That curriculum is delivered by pro soccer players, coaches and role models. You can try to teach kids in school, but they might not listen, but because they love soccer so much, if the curriculum is taught by soccer role models, they’re more inclined to listen.”

“Grassroot Soccer helps younger kids to obviously develop skills in soccer, but also to become role models in terms of making right decisions and giving information about HIV/AIDS,” Black added. “They really wanted to spread the word about what they were there for [at the Dallas Cup].”

On average, 180 teams participate in the Dallas Cup each year, competing on 17 open fields and in the FC Dallas Stadium, home to the FC Dallas Major League Soccer team. The teams are composed of 15 percent local Dallas area teams, 55 percent from the rest of the United States and 30 percent international teams.

Some of those international teams have names even casual sports fan would recognize — the academy (youth development) teams were there from Manchester United and Everton, of England, and Brazil’s Coritiba.

Those sides were in the Super Group division, a step above the U19 division in which Black and his Bantu Rovers teammates played.

“The teams we played were unbelievable. On our club from Zimbabwe, there were six members of the Zimbabwean National Team,” said Black. “The best team we played was Solar Chelsea, out of Texas. They ended up winning it all for our age group.”

“I’m impressed by the fact we made it to the semifinals with only 14 field players, most of whom played all 90 minutes of five games in seven days,” Grieve added. “If we’d had more depth, we would have made it farther.”

The tournament was, of course, great exposure for the players, their message through Grassroot Soccer and an invaluable cultural exchange through local home stays and school visits.

“By virtue of Grassroot Soccer being in the sponsor position on the front of the jersey, the story got out there,” said Grieve. “The people who ran our tournament loved our team, the first African team at the Dallas Cup in years. Even though entry into this tournament is by application, we were given an open invitation to return whenever we want.

“What the kids did off the field was at least as important as what they did on the field,” he added. “Staying with families in Dallas, they were so polite, they made their beds in the morning, they had great table manners. Many of our kids gave presentations in Dallas-area schools on Grassroot Soccer and life in Zimbabwe.”

Perhaps no player at the tournament was more impressed with the Zimbabwean players on the team than their guest keeper.

“The team was unbelievable. It was an honor to play with them. Even though we speak a different language, I became friends with them really quickly,” said Black. “I was one of the youngest players. Most of the kids were 18 or 19, and I’m 17. I felt I did pretty well. We lost 3-0 to the Solar Chelsea team and I let up two goals in our loss to Arsenal, another tough one. We did, however, beat a team called Charmin from Mexico, 5-0. I let up a total of five in four games and I felt I made some really nice saves.”

The road ahead

Now back from Dallas, Black is preparing for tryouts for the ODP regional team for Massachusetts.

“When you make the regional ODP team, you’re automatically put into the National Team player pool, so that’s something I’m working really hard for,” Black said. “I might be going overseas to train with an Academy team in Europe. European-style soccer is something I really admire, so training with those kids, I can use those skills [in the U.S.].”

He has his eyes on the Masconomet High School net but knows it would be a tough competition to take time away from returning senior Derek Grammer, who helped lead the Chieftains to the state final last year.

“I didn’t play this year, because I took the year off to focus on my grades,” said Black. “It’s made a huge difference. I’ve really picked it up and I’m happy with my decision. It was tough not playing with my buddies, especially when they did really well. In the long run, it’ll be more beneficial to have taken a break and focus on my grades. I hope to be playing next season. Derek and I are both really good goalies.”

He’ll certainly have one fan in his corner hoping to see him don the Chieftains’ red and white.

“I was psyched that John could play [in the Dallas Cup]. He’s always been someone who was very intuitive and thoughtful and sensitive,” Grieve added.

Black will always have a keeper spot open for him in a country situated well south of the Equator, where fellow soccer players and new friends are grateful for his efforts.